Mombasa’s Pride Inn earns five-star rating

Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort and Spa in Shanzu, Mombasa County, is the latest hotel to attain five-star status at the coast after Medina Palms Suites and Villas in Kilifi, Leopard Beach Resort and Spa in Kwale and Swahili Beach Resort.

It becomes the first hotel in the county to attain the status rating after a classification exercise conducted in the South Rift, Nairobi and Coast regions between June 9 and July 14, 2019 by the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA).

“Pride Inn Scored 100 percent on essential items as required by the EAC grading procedure. The hotel also scored a total of 4, 544 marks out of the possible maximum score of 5,665 marks which is 80.2 percent for a five-star grading,” TRA director-general Kipkorir Lagat said.

The exercise was undertaken by the East African Community Certified assessors and supervised by the Standardisation and Classification Committee.

Mr Lagat said the assessment reports have since been validated by the committee as prescribed by the Tourism Regulatory Authority regulations 2014 and are awaiting the Board’s approval.

The move comes as hospitality standards are currently being harmonised across East Africa in a bid to spur competition that forces investors to spruce up their facilities and ensure high-quality services.

Hotel ratings by TRA from two to five-stars help tourists determine their choice of hotel or lodge and what luxuries they offer.

Ten hotels in Nairobi and four at the coast have five-star ratings while none in the Western Kenya circuit have attained the coveted status.

Most hotels in Mount Kenya region were last year classified as four-star or three-star.

The classification is expected to give PrideInn Paradise a boost to its local and international tourist markets.

The resort has 240 rooms, with the first beach convention centre with a 2, 500 capacity, a bamboo spa and a Safari themed aquapark as some of its unique products.